JACKSON – Ocean County Commissioner Frank Sadeghi and County Engineer Mark F. Jehnke visited a recent Township Council meeting to report on current and future county projects going on within the township.
Some of Jackson’s roads are owned and maintained by the county, and fall under their jurisdiction.
Sadeghi noted that the needs of the people in the county are changing and that there are discussions on whose responsibility it is to install needed curbs and sidewalks.
He added that discussions on that responsibility were being addressed between county and municipal officials. Requests had been made to the county to examine traffic, speed calming devices, signage and traffic signals.
This involves the county engineering department and if necessary, the county bridge department (headed by Mayor Michael Reina as his regular job). Sadeghi noted that he and the mayor were reviewing a sidewalk installation project and also noted a dangerous situation on Route 528.
“There is probably two feet of space where people have to negotiate and walk and you have trucks and tractor trailers traveling on that road. We had the engineering and road departments get sort of creative and to put in some safe walkways in that corridor,” the commissioner added.
He said the county was “formulating a scenario where we can sit down and talk to different municipalities and see how we can come up with a formula where there is maybe a bigger contribution on the county side and a small contribution on the municipal side and we can get this going.”
Referencing Bartley Road, the commissioner said the arrangement reached was “to have your township engineer to prepare the plans and the acquisition of easements and such in place and the county – who has a designated contractor who can do this work – then the county would get involved and actually install those sidewalks in those locations.”
Jehnke’s 10-minute presentation covered what projects the county engineering department accomplished in the last two years and what plans and projects were on the list for the next two years. He acknowledged that Jackson Township was growing far more rapidly than any other municipality in Ocean County.
The engineer said, “we are here to work with the town. You are our eyes out there. We don’t see everything so we need to work together.” His office can be reached at oceangineering@co.ocean.nj.us or 732-929-2130.
He noted prior storm drainage work on Louisiana Parkway, construction of a traffic signal on West County Line Road and Brookwood Parkway, reconstruction and resurfacing on Route 539, Pinehurst Road – from Horicon Avenue to Route 528 – and resurfacing of several county roads such as Cedar Swamp Road and Cassville Road.
“We group various projects within these overlays so it’s not just the one road in Jackson Township. We typically focus on the region,” Jehnke added. He mentioned a street widening project on White Road that involves widening five lanes in Lakewood and Jackson townships.
Upcoming projects include a stormwater management contract on South New Prospect Road, construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of Route 526 and Commodore Boulevard and Diamond Road with a “dedicated left turn lane. We will see some activity out there. That is an approximately 12 month duration out there,” he added.
Jehnke also listed the rehabilitation of Farmingdale Road Culvert. “This is at the Ocean-Monmouth border. Pipes there are deteriorating. We will be constructing some new head walls. We will probably be able to get that work done within four months.”
In other business Council President Jennifer Kuhn mentioned various township departments were seeking grants and exploring the idea of solar lighting for public spaces. The township’s new recreation committee met and identified the township park Camp Joy as in need of improvements.
Councilman Nino Borrelli noted the summer’s Thursday afternoon Farmers Market in the Justice Complex and the remaining August 21 concert as part of the concert series in Johnson Park.
A bond ordinance to reallocate unused funds in the amount of just under $465,000 will be on a future council meeting agenda. Kuhn said that this amount is smaller than originally expected as department heads have made requests for their departments “which have been granted.”
“The remaining funds will be reallocated for capital projects directly related to benefit residents including improvements to the Jackson Dog Park (in Johnson Park).” She also mentioned a project on Bartley Road, the police department parking lot and “other long term community investments.”
Food Pantry Update
Kuhn announced that “parcels of land have been identified and approved by Mayor Michael Reina and Township Business Administrator Lavon Phillips.”
“Conversations with the food pantry leadership have been overwhelmingly positive. This is a huge step in giving them a permanent home and we will work through the next phases together,” she added.
